The past can hurt...
by ntrophi
Summary: A different side of Kagato. A VERY different side! Read it just cause it's different to everything else!! Set a while before Kagato attacks Tenchi et al. R+R please
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Kagato isn't mine. Which is a pity, cause I wouldn't have killed him off... (ducks as various things are thrown at her) ALRIGHT! Sheesh! Washu isn't mine either. Which is also a pity because... (looks around as she hears angry growls) Sorry, I'll continue with the disclaimer then? Alrighty.  
Basically, they're not mine. People are gonna have a fit at me for playing Kagato as sympathetic (ducks again) but what can ya do? Who am I to stand in the way of my own creative genius? (is attacked by four dozen readers)  
Alright, alright. Get a grip. I'll stop being so egotistical and get on with it just as long as you promise not to flame me.  
Reviews are welcome. I might come up with a sequel.  
Then again, I might not... ^_^ (And I REALLY must work on my titles!!)  
  
  
I stand in the sub-space part of the Souja, my reflection bouncing off the glass around me. The entire ship is silent - even it's engines are quiet today.  
I look down at my feet - to my own face that stares back at me. We stare at one another - my reflection and I - for quite some time. But then I begin to follow my reflection up, and before I know it I'm staring at her again.  
Washu.  
I let out a deep sigh and turn away for a moment. Some days I am more than happy that I encased her in glass and trapped her there. But then there are days like today, when I would come and stare at her for hours on end.  
  
She was always an enigma to me - a problem to be solved. But I never managed to. She outsmarted me, time after time - humiliating me more than once. I hated her for that sometimes. That hate was partly what made me imprison her in the first place. But that was not all I felt for her. True, she may have been quick to prove me wrong and demonstrate that she was the professor and I was the lowly assistant. But then again, she was always there to back me up when my own experiments went wrong.  
A slight smile crosses my face as I turn back to her. She looks so peaceful there - her eyes closed and her voice silent. That is not how it should be. She was always loud, laughing and joking. She used to interrupt me so many times - always while I was working on the most delicate of projects - another thing that made me hate her. She never seemed to do any work, and yet she managed to acheive so much.  
I was jealous...  
I still am.  
I soon realised that she had intellect that far surpassed my own. This ship. Ryoko. The gems. Everything was her idea. I used to sit and think for hours about how to prove some new theory, but she? She would sit for the briefest of moments, thinking everything through and producing theories that I could never even dream about.  
But she was rarely egotistical. When I asked her - those nights when her theories would keep her working on the ship until the first break of daylight - why she never bragged of her acheivements, she used to laugh at me.  
'Genius' never need to tell themselves what they are,' she would say. I never understood her. Not until long after she was imprisoned.  
  
I sigh again, my gaze moving back up to her face. Everything had been going so well. The Souja was almost finished. Ryoko was more than ready. My fists clench involuntarily as I remember what happened.  
'Why did you have to...?' I start, not daring to finish the sentence even though I know that no-one will hear me. My voice echoes around the empty room. As always, I get no reply.  
I was never able to kill her. She was a threat to me and she had to be dealt with. But, I could never bring myself to hurt her. I have tried. Oh yes. Many times I have tried to silence her forever.  
And each time I have failed.  
The memories of those sleepless nights - those nights when we would just talk - come back to haunt me even to this day. I remember how happy we were. And although that memory makes me weak, I live in hope that we might be that happy again.  
  
(Author's note: Don't flame me, but just think about it... No-one ever thinks of Kagato as anything but the evil genius... Besides... I have a few more ideas about this... Wanna hear my theory on how Kagato outsmarted Washu? Then give me a good review and I'll keep writing!!) 


	2. Chapter 2

(This is set about a month after part one...)  
  
I stand and I gaze at her still form.  
That's all I seem to do these days. Even though there are far more pressing matters to deal with, I can never bear to tear myself away. My eyes are fixed upon her - like a hungry orphan staring wide-eyed at a feast that is just out of reach.  
This past month has been most troubling. My search for Tsunami is not going well. Even Ryoko's signature has disappeared from my scopes. Never have the answers seemed further out of my grasp than now. I stare up at the Professor and sigh. If she were not encased in there - locked away like some kind of dangerous beast - then she would be here. Stood at my side, giving me words of encouragement.  
I shake off the thought and close my eyes. The more I fail, the more I am drawn to this place. Almost unconsciously I come here without fail, as if I am following some innate ritual that has been imprinted deep in my mind. In the past, I would always go to her for support. It was almost impossible not to. She was so reassuring, even when she didn't agree with what I was doing. Whenever I knew that I was failing, then she would calm me and give me help.  
And so now... Even when she cannot speak. I still come here, like some kind of slave. I am drawn to her and I can never tear myself away.  
I have often wondered long about the reason. Why do I continue to come here to watch her - the woman who would be my most hated enemy were she not imprisoned. I have no further use for her. I do not require her to be alive and yet I cannot hurt her. Why am I unable to kill her? Me - the Eternally Wanted Criminal. Others have died at my hands, others who woldn't even dream of doing what she did. If anyone else were troubling me, then I would waste no time in wiping them from existance - especially if they were so dangerous to me.  
But the Professor. I catch one glimpse of her and I stop. All my hatred disappears and I am like her student again.  
Could it be regret? Could that be why I am unable to destroy her? I pause, reopening my eyes and gazing at her peaceful, still face.  
No. It's much deeper than regret. It's something so powerful that not even I can conquer it. Could it be... love?  
Love...  
That word burns through my mind, echoing around me as if I had screamed it out loud. The sound awakes me from my trance, causing me to blink forcibly. How could I have been thinking that? I shake my head.  
'Love... Hah...' I say - though my voice has lost it's confident tone for the moment. I am a scientist. Emotions are of no use to me. They never were and they never will be. Emotions are what makes a person weak. I will not allow myself to degrade into some being that relies on it's feelings to survive.  
I know I am just trying to convince myself. I have already weakened because of her.  
  
I turn my back on her and prepare to phase out of the room. I cannot bear to be in the same room as her any longer. I must escape this vicious grip that she has over me.  
'Even when frozen... You must prove that you are stronger,' I mutter, gritting my teeth. I will not fail again. I will not allow my weak emotions to bring me here anymore. I will not return here, to wallow in my regrets of the past. I have matters to prepare for - my next destination is not far off. Life will go on, whether the Professor is part of it or not.  
  
I try not to think of the Professor - trapped alone in her glass prison - as I phase out of the room. I try not to imagine her voice calling out to me - begging me not to do what I am about to do. I sigh quietly. Even though I vowed never to return to this place, I know that my emotions will drag me back here sooner than I hope.  
  
(Author note: Next chapter is the flashback... My theory as to why and how Kagato imprisoned Washu... Keep tuned in, and let people know about this eh? Thanks a lot!!) 


	3. Chapter 3

The flashback - again about a month after the previous part (chapter two) I know that chapter two wasn't as good as the first one was, but I've tried to make this one better... And I did research the Super-Unified theory (which was what Kagato was looking for - I think) a little, but I made up a bunch of it in this!!! Don't sue me Einstein!! (Yes, I do know that Einstein didn't think of the S-U theory, but please! A little creative freedom eh? LoL!) And it gets a lil' bit sciency in the middle. Tis only setting the scene and making me look like I did my homework!!!  
And I apologise to any TM aficionados that know more about Kagato than I do. Bear in mind that this is NOT the truth and that basically I made a whole bunch of it up!!! It starts good, but I think it tails off a little near the end cause I was running out of things to make up (some of the stuff just didn't sound plausible and that was before I changed it!)  
  
  
Space...  
Sheer emptiness. Nothing can survive out there, in the vast darkness. So every living thing strays away from the dark and moves towards the light. They set up colonies around warm, light stars or habituate small planets, in the vain hope that they will be saved from the dark.  
I was safe from the dark once. But long ago I cast away the light and embraced the dark - welcomed it. It was all I wanted. I thought that it would make me happy, but it did not. Ah yes. Back in the days when there was still hope for me. When the Professor and I would work together, rather than oppose each other as we would do now - were she not trapped.  
  
I gaze out into space, and try to stop the memory from returning. I have been too busy in recent weeks to bother worrying about events that have already occurred. I cannot change the past, so why should I worry about it? After all, I am not God.  
I sigh quietly, and close my eyes. I allow my mind to slip back - back to when we were together. Before my anger and frustration had made me encase the Professor in her glass prison. Why?  
Why did I trap her there?  
  
It was many millennia ago, yet I still remember it clearly, as if it happened only yesterday. After the creation of Ryoko and the gems, we were filled with a new kind of passion. We were getting closer - closer to the theory that had eluded man for generations. Was all energy once the same? Before it split into it's seperate parts - the fundamental forces that we now see. I was filled with fierce ambition. If we solved this riddle, then our place as the two best scientists in the whole universe would be affirmed. No-one would be able to do better.  
For a while, that was what drove me to continue. Until I realised just how powerful the unified force would be. Imagine the power! No weapon - not even Jurai royal family trees - would stand a chance against the unified force. If we could find a way to harbour it's energy - to contain it's force - then we would be unstoppable. This new craving - not for knowledge, but for power - began to drive me even faster.  
  
But the Professor...  
I think to how she is now, locked away in that cage like some beast. Even if I set her free from her prison now, I know she would not forgive me. I doubt that she will ever forgive me.  
  
As I grew more excited at the prospect of an all-powerful force, the Professor seemed to lose interest in it. She started to work on other projects, choosing to work on Ryoko rather than help me. Didn't she see? For all her intellect, she never saw that with this power - with this unstoppable force - then no-one would ever be able to stop her. She ignored the chance - the chance that could have turned her into a God.  
She was still helpful - aiding me when I was in need. But soon, I was alone again - faced with that overpowering darkness. And for once, there was no gentle words to calm me - no light to turn to...  
  
The more I was left alone, the more my cravings for the answers grew. And the more my cravings grew, the more frustrated I became with myself and with her. If she had helped me - as she had done in the beginning - then we would have discovered the answers much sooner. Without her, it took me millennia to find an answer to the theory. With her it may have only taken decades...  
When I saw her - laughing and joking with her... no, our creation Ryoko - I was filled with such anger and hatred. Had she just used me, treated me like some kind of intellectual slave so that she could fulfil her dream of having a daughter? The more I was left to brood, the more these thoughts entered my mind - poisoning my thoughts towards the Professor and her daughter.  
One day I grew too weary of it, and I confronted her... That was when I saw a side of the Professor that I did not think existed. She had always seemed so happy and carefree - strong-minded yet easy to manipulate. But when I showed her my anger, she turned on me. Me! Her most trusted student! She accused me of being power-crazy. Of all things.  
'Don't you see...?' I say, knowing that no-one will hear me in the emptiness of the Souja.  
'Ambition... You mistake my ambition for crazed desire...' I sigh, hanging my head. I am not proud of what I did next, but it had to be done. In that moment, when I saw that undesirable side of the Professor, I realised that if she were not with me, then she would be against me. She would oppose me all the way. Perhaps she would even try to prevent me from finding the answers.  
I could not allow that to happen. The cravings within me were so strong... Strong enough to make me betray the one person who believed in me...  
  
I did think about killing her. The first thought that entered my mind was the thought of her death at my hands. My frustration at her sudden defection almost drove me to spill her blood. Hatred is not a strong enough word to describe how I felt about her sometimes. But when I watched her - no matter what she was doing - I knew that I would never be able to harm her. I always hated feeling so... weak, yet she never even realised.  
Until it was too late...  
  
I had synthesised a small sample of the unified energy. It's power was nothing compared to the true force, but it was obviously strong enough. I still don't believe that I managed to trap her. It seems so laughable now.  
'You... The almighty, all-knowing Professor... Caught by me... A mere assistant turned criminal...' I cannot help the chuckle that forms in the back of my throat. How could she be so foolish? I expected much more of her, but my expectations were not lived up to.  
I did not mean to fuse myself with the sample. To plan such a thing would have been utter foolishness. Originally, I had planned to power an energy field with it... To trap the Professor. She would never have known it was me - had my original plan worked of course. Instead, the field rejected the sample, causing some sort of energy reaction. Not even I have the eloquency to describe it.  
When I awoke, I felt it. The power coursing through me, brought on by my fusion with the sample - a rather unexpected yet... pleasant side-effect.  
A thought had struck me just as the field and sample had reacted. Why waste my energy on building a field that she could escape from when I could just use the reverse world of the Souja?  
And so I attacked her, when she least expected it. I had no idea that she was as powerful as she is until she started to fight back. But I had the element of surprise, and the thought of having the unified power taken away from me. I could not let her do it! Almost blindly I took led her to the Souja and to the reverse world. I was ruled by my hatred and anger - my frustration brought on by my failure. Using my rage, coupled with my new-found power, I imprisoned her there. The snake seal was an afterthought, more to prevent me from regretting my actions than to stop the Professor from escaping... To break that seal, the person would either have to be very brave...  
Or extremely foolish...  
  
And the Professor remains, in an endless sleep - never to awaken. I will never let her go free. I may not be able to harm her, but I will never allow her to stop me. She is the only person who could possibly prevent me from fulfilling my destiny. And no matter how strongly I feel about her, she will not stand in my way. No-one will.  
And if they do...? Well, we will have to solve that problem when we come to it.  
  
IF we come to it...  
  
(Author note: Only one more chapter to go. Then I'm done with this one. If you want to see the more usual side of dear Kagato, then go and read my other fic about him. It too is in parts, but it's much more action/adventure than this ever will be!) 


End file.
